Federal investigators from the Government Accountability Office have determined the Bush administration * illegally withheld data from Congress* on the cost of the actual new Medicare law. The investigators recommended that the former head of the Medicare agency, Thomas Scully, pay as a penalty seven months of his salary. Scully, who now works as a lobbyist for several major health care companies, said he would not pay the suggested penalty.

Medicare Premiums Set For Record Increase
In other Medicare news, on Friday the Bush administration quietly announced a * record increase in next year’s Medicare premiums for doctor visits*. This according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The increase of $11.60 a month was the largest ever in the program’s 40-year history.